Dream with Our Eyes Open

Reply to this meme by yelling "Words!" and I will give you five words that remind me of you. Then post them in your LJ and explain what they mean to you. These are the words given to me by redbrunja:

This was from ginnyvos, who assigned me Jien a/k/a Dokugakuji (in the icon, which is by meganbmoore), Gojyo's older half-brother, from Saiyuki:

All the cool kids are doin' it ... like louiselux and kispexi2. So I'll spam everyone with some favorite Saiyuki pix as well!

Actually, I had the problem that my favorite pics of individual guys are picked out of group shots ... still, there were an awful lot of nice shots,and it was hard to pick.

( Cut for big pile o' pics )

Help meganbmoore ponder one of life's great questions! She asks, among other things, "Were his entire genetics rewritten during that little Killing Spree of Youkai Making Angst Overload?"

It's been a whole year since Sayuki fans have been able to read an official English translation of any new material - but of course, no time has passed for our boys. As you no doubt recall, the Sanzo ikkou had split up in the aftermath of the mysterious and nearly deadly attack on Goku. Sanzo's off on foot with cheerily narcissistic, youkai-hating Western exorcist Hazel Grosse and his massive native American bodyguard Gat, while Hakkai, Gojyo, and Goku (and Jeep) have been struggling to make it on their own without Sanzo's Gold Card to pay for their upkeep.

As of last volume, the three sort-of youkai had been rescued from the desert's hostile clutches by the inhabitants of a youkai village, all of whom have been through the Minus Wave and come out the other side quite sane, although frighteningly blasé about the possibility of Human as a menu item. This village turns out to have a serious water problem: the inhabitants used to be part of a mixed human-youkai town located on an oasis nearby, but the youkai were kicked out some time ago, and have since depended on hauling water from a river several hours away. When drought dries up even that remote source, the youkai are poised to invade their ancestral territory so that they can take what they feel is rightfully theirs. Hakkai, Gojyo, and especially Goku - whose friendship with a downright young youkai girl is blossoming rapidly into something more - are caught in the middle as events push the village to the breaking point.

Meanwhile, in a striking coincidence, Sanzo, Hazel, and Gat find themselves in ... a lovely, prosperous human town located on an oasis. The mayor and townsfolk have a wee problem, however. Seems some vicious youkai live just over the hill, and are fixing to attack the town for its water. Hazel is charmed to be among people whose viewpoints correspond so well with his own, but Sanzo is deeply skeptical about the entire situation. What's the truth about the town? Only time - and a lot of sorrow, and learning of the toughest kind - will tell.

This is a very involving volume with a lot of real-world parallels. I found myself thinking of racial conflicts, terrorism, water rights (obviously), and environmental issues, just to name a few.

I was sitting pretty for several days with the top bid on emungere's fic writing offer in the livelongnmarry auction, but the rest of the usual suspects have suddenly shown up in force, and I'm teetering on the edge of what I can afford.

But it's all good for the cause! I think I'll leave it alone for a couple of days and see what happens.

> sniffles quietly <

So smillaraaq and I were talking a little about Saiyuki and the tarot, and it's kind of fun matching up characters and events to cards. I'm thinking in terms of the classic Rider-Waite deck, which has events for the pip cards in the four suits.

For our four boys, at the simplest level, I'd go with the Knights of the four suits. The definitions re personality traits for these tend to be open enough that you can find things that match each of the guys, and they also work pretty well with something that kispexi2 put forth, which is that you can match Sanzo/Hakkai/Gojyo/Goku up with Spirit/Mind/Heart/Body. That matches well with the four Western elements used in the tarot: Fire/Air/Water/Earth, which are represented by Wands/Swords/Cups/Pentacles.

So if a Gojyo-type character were to end up in Edo-era Japan, would he be able to support himself by gambling? This stray thought brought me to this article from the Japan Times Online:

By the middle of the Heian Period (794-1185), gambling had become rampant among the inhabitants of the capital, Heiankyo (present-day Kyoto). People wagered enthusiastically on practically anything: cock fights, horse races, cricket fights and fanciful competitions that made use of flowers, pictures or folding fans.

Around this time professional gamblers, known as bakuto, first appeared. Historical accounts gave details of brawls, killings and robberies involving gamblers, which led to increasingly strict measures to repress their activities. Between 1225 and 1284, the authorities issued no fewer than nine edicts prohibiting gambling.

During the Edo Period (1603-1867), members of the ruling samurai class were discouraged from gambling ... .

What's less clear is what he'd be playing - not cards, which came in with the Portugese, later. From the discussion later in the article, the likeliest thing would be a dice games of various sorts. Hmm ... .

So I finally received my lovely 2008 Saiyuki Reload Calendar, and I have it artfully positioned so that I can see it from where I'm sitting by merely turning my head about 30°, but no one walking by my office can see it from the door.

And it is very artistic, and mildly distracting (it's Hakkai's blissed-out face that I find the most attention-grabbing on this first page), but it's not much use as a calendar. The numbers are really hard to see, and the day-of-the-week labels not much better. I'm going to have to print out one of those blank calendar pages available on the web, for practical purposes ... .

Eh, I've decided to live dangerously. I've unlocked the post I set up for discussing emungere and louiselux's serial fanfic Cupidity. Remember that this story is rated NC-17, folks. You are warned. The discussion post is here and thus far it's just been smillaraaq and myself - we'd be glad of company from anyone who wants to talk through the story and doesn't feel comfortable cluttering up the story LJ with her/his speculations.